CV

Experience

Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, CA

• Conduct field site visits and coordinate with key stakeholders including building managers, researchers, and industry professionals to refine load shifting control algorithms, run field trials, and perform measurement & validation.
• Assist team leadership in submitting funding proposals and presenting research to prospective funding organizations.
• Development of price-responsive controls for pool pumps and central heat pump water heaters, considering industry standards for safety and utilizing limited readily-available field data to reduce operation costs without adversely impacting users.
• Conduct market research and perform modeling to quantify economic benefits of demand flexibility technologies and predict adoption potential.
• Create training curriculum to promote economic and business benefits of residential heat pump water heater adoption to installers.

Santa Clara University, Santa Clara, CA

• Instructing Heat Transfer Laboratory.

RMS FIRST Tech Challenge Club, Santa Clara County, CA

• Develop engaging hands-on training curriculum to introduce students to robotics and the engineering design process.
• Guide students through overcoming adversity while practicing teamwork and leadership skills.
• Coordinate with parents, volunteers, and other mentors to plan events and help students accomplish their goals.
• Foster a positive, safe, and inclusive learning environment for all students interested in STEM.

Applied Materials, Inc., Santa Clara, CA

• Designed protective system to extend lifetime and improve usability of high-vacuum chamber transparent lids.
• Collaborated with design engineers, technicians, suppliers, and purchasing to develop prototype.
• Applied design for manufacturing principles to reduce fabrication cost of a part by 90 % from original design.
• Evaluated designs through NX CAD, fit testing in 100+ part assemblies, & FEA. Created engineering drawings.
• Assisted with installing hardware modification prototypes and leak checking for semiconductor chambers.

Santa Clara University, Santa Clara, CA

• Automated the simulation and post-processing of 300+ residential energy models using Python, Java, & Bash, increasing time efficiency by 100x.
• Analyzed and visualized energy consumption data in Python & Excel for technical reports.
• Designed simulations in Python and Java to evaluate optimal HVAC control system algorithms for reducing energy costs and improving thermal comfort in buildings. Integrated meteorological and occupancy data for predictive control.
• Developed simulation framework and methodology to evaluate economic impacts of electricity tariffs by household income level.
• Coauthored research journal papers (see Publications).
• More information here.

Santa Clara University, School of Engineering, Santa Clara, CA

• Led design & instruction of laboratory activities including 5 activities for the Modern Instrumentation for Engineers laboratory to teach DAQ systems, LabVIEW, Arduino, vibrations, and PID control.
• Created electronics cooling competition for the Heat Transfer laboratory to apply thermal principles to solving a practical problem.
• Instructing groups of 20+ students through live lectures, video, and print media. Mentoring and providing detailed constructive feedback.

National Institute of Standards and Technology, Gaithersburg, MD

• Programmed, modeled, & simulated a HVAC controller that responds to occupancy to save energy.
• Performed energy simulations using EnergyPlus, Python, and Java.
• Presented work at NIST research colloquium event to 70+ research colleagues. Primary presenter at the monthly NIST Inclusivity & Belonging Initiative meeting. Presentation slides are available here.

Arevo, Inc., Milpitas, CA

• Performed microscopy, mechanical testing following ASTM standards, and root-cause analysis in a materials science laboratory to validate material properties of 3D printed continuous carbon fiber composite bicycles.
• Analyzed and presented results to cross-functional technical team to guide process improvements.
• Validated product quality, investigated root-causes for performance issues, and documented findings.
• Trained new employees to use lab equipment and follow safety requirements.

Education

Santa Clara University, Santa Clara, CA

GPA: 3.95/4.00
Thermofluids & Energy emphasis.
Recipient Outstanding Mechanical Engineering Graduate Award.

Graduated with Honors.
Recipient Engineering Humanities Award & Senior Design Conference Presentation Award

Skills

Projects

• To detect unhealthy air quality during recent wildfires, I designed and built prototype particulate matter pollution monitors with similar functionality and 60% lower cost compared to Air Quality Index (AQI) monitors on the consumer market.
• I programmed microcontrollers, built a miniature data acquisition system, tested and validated infrared sensors, and published open-source designs and code on GitHub˺.

Publications

B. Woo-Shem, K. Pattawi, H. Covington, P. McCurdy, C. Wang, T. Roth, C. Nguyen, Y. Liu, and H. Lee, “Comparing economic benefits of HVAC control strategies in grid-interactive residential buildings.” Energy and Buildings. 2023; 286, 112937. DOI: 10.1016/j.enbuild.2023.112937.

H. Covington, B. Woo-Shem, C. Wang, T. Roth, C. Nguyen, and H. Lee, “Stochastic Method for Generating Residential Household Energy Models of Varying Income Level and Climate Zone for Testing Energy Fairness.” ASME. J. Eng. Sustain. Bldgs. Cities. February 2024; 5(1): 011001. DOI: 10.1115/1.4063592.

H. Covington, B. Woo-Shem, C. Wang, T. Roth, C. Nguyen, Y. Liu, Y. Fang, H. Lee, “Method for Evaluating Fairness of Electricity Tariffs with Regard to Income Level of Residential Buildings.” Applied Energy. January 2024; 353B, 122130. DOI: 10.1016/j.apenergy.2023.122130. Full text here.

Volunteering

• Hardware and strategy mentor to 4 FTC teams, helping middle school students compete against high school level teams.
• Coaching students in leadership and team management skills.
• Advisor to FTC club with 8 teams and 60+ students.

• Research, design & source parts to build water purification system for rural Rwandan village.
• Served on Engineering and Public Relations ministries.

• Designed, organized, planned, and led art and science activities for groups of 30-40 children ages 5-9.

Activities

• Served and led youth as Patrol Leader, Troop Guide, and Assistant Senior Patrol Leader.
• Coordinated with youth and mentors to plan multi-day events for 30+ attendees.
• Managed the design, budget, materials, volunteer crew, and construction of four picnic benches for donation to local elementary school.